Benny Carter - Aspects

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1958
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:19
Size: 112,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:13)  1. June In January
(1:56)  2. February Fiesta
(3:18)  3. March Wind
(3:22)  4. I'll Remenber April
(2:51)  5. One Morning In May
(3:01)  6. June Is Busting Out All Over
(2:52)  7. Sleigh Ride In July
(3:42)  8. August Moon
(2:41)  9. September Song
(2:55) 10. Something For October
(3:03) 11. Swingin In November
(2:38) 12. Roses In December
(1:57) 13. February Fiesta (Mono Take)
(3:01) 14. June Is Busting Out All Over (Mono Take)
(3:36) 15. August Moon (Mono Take)
(3:05) 16. Swingin In November (Mono Take)

This CD reissues an enjoyable obscurity. Although originally associated with big bands, the set has what was Benny Carter's only big-band recording as a playing leader during 1947-86. While the song titles are a bit gimmicky, saluting the 12 months of the year (including "June in January," "I'll Remember April," "June Is Busting Out All Over," etc.), the music (which includes four alternate takes) is solid, mainstream big-band swing. The less familiar titles include four Carter originals written for the date, plus Hal Schaefer's "February Fiesta." 

The leader/altoist solos on every selection, and among the other top West Coast studio players featured are trumpeters Shorty Sherock, Pete Candoli and Joe Gordon, trombonists Frank Rosolino and Herbie Harper, vibraphonist Larry Bunker, pianists Arnold Ross and Gerry Wiggins, and guitarist Barney Kessel. Two overlapping big bands were utilized, and the music alternates between being forceful and lyrical. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/aspects-mw0000613039

Personnel:  Alto Saxophone – Benny Carter;  Bass – Joe Comfort;  Drums – Shelly Manne;  Guitar – Barney Kessel, Bobby Gibbons Leader – Benny Carter;  Piano – Arnold Ross, Gerry Wiggins;  Saxophone – Buddy Collette, Chuck Gentry, Jewell Grant, Justin Gordon, Plas Johnson, Bill Green;  Trombone – Frank Rosolino, George Roberts, Herbie Harper, Russ Brown), Tommy Pederson;  Trumpet – Al Porcino, Conrad Gozzo, Joe Gordon, Pete Candoli, Ray Triscari, Shorty Sherock, Stu Williamson, Uan Rasey;  Vibraphone [Vibes] – Larry Bunker 

Aspects

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Carolyn Leonhart - Steal the Moon

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:57
Size: 116,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. It Didn't Turn Out That Way
(6:20)  2. Nature Boy
(4:16)  3. A Sunday Kind of Love
(7:11)  4. Juju Knows
(4:14)  5. All Because of You
(5:17)  6. Steal the Moon
(5:12)  7. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face
(4:16)  8. Little Man
(6:07)  9. Yesterday's a Dream
(3:57) 10. Moonglow

Carolyn Leonhart sits astride the jazz and pop worlds, allowing both to inform her singing and repertoire. The daughter of bassist Jay Leonhart and a backup singer for the reunited Steely Dan, Leonhart inflects her jazz singing with an unmistakable dose of soul and R&B, not unlike Chaka Khan or even Rickie Lee Jones. Pianist Rob Bargad is Leonhart's main collaborator on this album, contributing five compositions, including the lush ballad "Yesterday's a Dream" and a borderline-corny but charming vocal duo with Leonhart on "Steal the Moon," a good candidate for radio play. Leonhart even hands two tracks over entirely to Bargad: the Vince Guaraldi-like piano trio feature "Juju Knows" and a bluesy, smart-alecky vocal tribute to a child titled "Little Man." Leonhart is bright-toned and sultry on the standards "Nature Boy," "I've Grown Accustomed to His (Her) Face," and "Moonglow," the last an oh-so-hip duo between her and father Jay Leonhart on the bass. She struts her stuff sassily on "Sunday Kind of Love," Bargad's "All Because of You," and Mose Allison's "It Didn't Turn Out That Way." 

Bargad's solid post-bop piano work anchors every track. Jimmy Cobb and Billy Drummond share drumming duties, Daniel Sadownick weighs in with perfect percussion flourishes, and David Gilmore guests on acoustic guitar for the title track. As might be expected from a singer with such diverse influences, Leonhart walks a fine line between telling a coherent story and presenting a musical patchwork. But her voice is polished and distinctive, and her band cooks, which invariably makes Steal the Moon a fun listen. ~ David R.Adler https://www.allmusic.com/album/steal-the-moon-mw0000066428

Personnel: Carolyn Leonhart (vocals); Rob Bargad (piano, vocals, producer, songwriter); Jay Leonhart (bass).

Steal the Moon

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Bud Shank - Bud Shank Plays Tenor

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:21
Size: 106,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:42)  1. Thou Swell
(7:53)  2. Tenderly
(4:24)  3. Over The Rainbow
(4:53)  4. Long Ago And Far Away
(6:33)  5. I Never Knew
(4:55)  6. All The Things You Are
(5:12)  7. Body And Soul
(5:45)  8. Blue Lou

"As its title promises, Bud Shank Plays Tenor eschews the jazzman's signature alto and flute, and while the leap to tenor doesn't dramatically impact his overall sound and style, it does add soul and depth to his lyrical solos. Paired with pianist Claude Williamson, bassist Don Prell, and drummer Chuck Flores, Shank crafts a radiant set of standards spanning from "All the Things You Are" to "Long Ago and Far Away," and while none of the performances reinvent the familiar material, the robust approach sets the session apart from his other Pacific Jazz dates."~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/album/bud-shank-plays-tenor-mw0000869407

Personnel:  Bud Shank (tenor sax), Claude Williamson (piano), Don Prell (bass), Chuck Flores (drums).

Bud Shank Plays Tenor

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Guilhem Flouzat - On Way...or Another

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:28
Size: 121,1 MB
Art: Front

(5:39)  1. Stompin
(6:32)  2. One Way... or Another
(6:19)  3. Clap
(2:47)  4. Black Magic
(9:49)  5. Sometimes, at Night
(6:10)  6. Agin
(6:30)  7. Avant l'Orage
(5:38)  8. Meet
(3:01)  9. Black Magic

It is interesting the assortment of sextet protagonist of this One Way ... Or Another. Together with a handful of very promising youngsters led by drummer composer Guilem Flouzat (a highly regarded student of John Riley) we find the already experienced Ben Wendel (Kneebody saxophonist) and Laurent Coq (the most American of French pianists) and, in three pieces, a rising star increasingly star like the Armenian-born pianist Tigran Hamasyan. The mix works pretty well, so much so that it's more than a One Way debut album ... Or Another seems like the work of a musician with years of experience behind him. 

This is thanks to the richness and the intrinsic articulation of the compositions that, despite their defined and recognizable structure, activate a continuous game of particularly interesting references and overlaps. To the care and dynamism of the arrangements that manage to combine timbric mixtures that are not exactly customary and to give continuous executions deviations from the traced paths. And finally, thanks to the ability with which Flouzat keeps away from an exhibitionism often lurking among young talents and to the wisdom with which he leads the sextet. One Way ... Or Another is enjoyable, fresh, intelligent disc, it holds up well to the test of repeated listening and will please both the faithful of a modern mainstream and lovers of contemporary sounds and contaminations.~AAJ Italy Staff https://www.allaboutjazz.com/one-way--or-another-ben-wendel-point-of-departure-wmpg-fm-review-by-aaji-staff.php

Personnel: Antonin Hoang (alto saxophone except 4,8,9); Ben Wendel (tenor sax, except 8); Laurent Coq (plan except for 3.4.8); Tigran Hamasyan (plan 3.8); Michael Valeanu (guitar except 8.9); Matteo Bortone (double bass except 1,2,6,8); Simon Tailleu (double bass in 1,2,3,6); Guilhem Flouzat (drums).

On Way...or Another

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Joachim Kühn New Trio - Love & Peace

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:38
Size: 108,5 MB
Art: Front

(1:59)  1. Love And Peace
(4:12)  2. Le Vieux Chateau
(3:19)  3. The Crystal Ship
(5:14)  4. Mustang
(3:50)  5. Barcelona-Wien
(4:14)  6. But Strokes Of Folk
(3:43)  7. Lied Ohne Worte No. 2
(3:52)  8. Casbah Radio
(4:17)  9. Night Plans
(5:20) 10. New Pharoah
(6:31) 11. Phrasen

The German ACT label achieved global recognition when they issued the Esbjorn Svensson Trio album Viaticum (2005) and they warrant broader discovery by U.S. jazz fans. Though their country's best known label casts a global shadow over its competition, the ACT catalog has included , Lars Danielsson, Vijay Iyer, Manu Katche, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bugge Wesseltoft, Tore Brunborg and a host of other well-known artists. Among those talents is one the finest but under-recognized jazz pianists of the past half-century. Joachim Kühn has had a presence on the label for more than twenty years and returns with his "New Trio" on Love & Peace. The trio no longer exactly "new" has been together since 2015 and had previously released Beauty & Truth (ACT, 2017). Bassist Chris Jennings and drummer Eric Schaefer, two musicians half Kühn's age, lend a vitality to the music that drives the pianist as well. The eleven tracks on Love & Peace are compact and crisp with straight-forward melodies, six of those written by Kühn. Jennings and Schaefer each contribute a composition and two others are from the very different worlds of The Doors and Modest Mussorgsky. The diversity of inspirations doesn't mar the overall theme. The very brief title track sets the tone leading into Mussorgsky's "La Vieux Chateau," putting Kühn at home with his early classical training. The Doors "The Crystal Ship" is not the first time Kühn has covered the Morrison catalog; "The End" had appeared on Beauty & Truth. "Barcelona Wien" is lighter fare, conceived in-flight between those two cities. Eric Schaeter's "Lied ohne Worte No. 2" is the most melancholy piece on the album while Jennings' piece is a pastoral and vacillating "Casbah Radio." Ornette Coleman has long been a jazz hero for Kühn, the two recording the duo album Colors: Live from Leipzig (Harmolodic/Verve, 1997). "Night Plans" which first appeared on that album gets an abbreviated treatment here and one that has a more concentrated focus on the basic melody. Yet, as he does with each of the pieces here, Kühn demonstrates his unique skill at maintaining a harmonious core within his unusual musical inventions. In an interview with the Steinway piano company, Kühn said "I like to improvise life, piano, and painting. Really improvise not knowing what you're going to do. Do it by doing." There's no question that the New Trio does just that on Love & Peace. ~ Karl Ackermann https://www.allaboutjazz.com/love-and-peace-joachim-kuhn-act-music-review-by-karl-ackermann.php

Personnel: Joachim Kühn: piano; Chris Jennings: bass; Eric Schaefer: drums.

Love & Peace

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